Cut a Section thru a Specialty Equipment Family

[FormatformE]

I work in foodservice.  All of our families fall into the omniclass catagory of specialty equipment.  Like the title says, I need to be able to cut a section through work counters, tables and other custom specialty equipment families. Is there a way to do this? I have tried creating a generic family and change the catagory to specialty equipment.. which does not work.  Any ideas?

[ToanDN]

You can change your family category to something cutable such as Casework, then changle the OmniClass Number to 23.40.40.14 (Food Service Equipment).

[FormatformE]

Thank you.  That is probably the only option.  I wanted to avoid changing the family catagory because we use specialty equipment tags to tag everything and create a schedule.  Can I tag a catagory, like casework, and have that schedule correctly with all the other specialty equipment in the same schedule?

[ToanDN]

You can modify a casework tag to look like your specialty equipment tag. I believe you can have a multi-categories schedule and use some filter (such as OmniClass) to so only what you want to show.

[CoreyDaun]

Just in case it might be an acceptable option, perhaps you can create a 3D View and adjust the Section Box so that it cuts through the desired Elements, and then orient the 3D View to mimic the Section View. That way, you could keep your elements in the Specialty Equipment Category.

[FormatformE]

I never thought about that. It works! The only problem is I would need to create a dummy reference tag, which wouldn't link directly to the section view.  

Also can't add detail lines, components or groups.  😞 

Dimmensions work if a ref plane is created and oriented to and activated.

[ToanDN]

That is a pretty good workaround. You know you can overlay that cut 3D view on an annotated plan view. basically, the 3D view takes care of the cut graphics and the plan view takes care of details, tags, annotation, etc...

[FormatformE]

I didnt know that.  can you explain how? Would you overlay a drafting view on the 3D, to keep the smart section symbols?

[CoreyDaun · Accepted solution]

Yep - downside to both methods. If you change the Family's Category away from Specialty Equipment, Tags and Scheduling get messed up. So, what if you create a 3D Image (with Scope Box) and turned off everything except for the Specialty Equipment category in it, and then overlaid the 3D Viewport and Section Viewport in your Sheet View? It's a little more work, but is that feasible?

Also, if you have the 3D View on the bottom (place it first), then you could right-click the Section View's Viewport and Activate the View, and work it the Section View while seeing the faint overlay of the 3D View.

[FormatformE]

This is definetly the best option for now. I think switching the familty catagory and creating a multi catagory schedule might be a simpler option in the long run, but would require more time and effort for me at the moment. 

[FormatformE]

Thank you ToanDN and CADastrophe.

Has anyone brought this issue up with Autodesk? I tried to contact technical support to make them aware of the problem, but there service is not the best.

[CoreyDaun]

I'd guess that someone has brought up making other Categories of elements "cuttable" before. I recommend  voicing your concerns using the link below, which is frequently provided by Autodesk Support personnel in these forums.

---

Autodesk Product Support

The following link is setup for you to submit feature requests, or feedback, directly to our Development group:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=1109794

---

[aghis_no]

There is another way to go.
1. Change the type of your family to casework and make it a shared family.
2. Create a new empty speciality equipment family and nest the casework family.
3. Insert the speciality equipment family on your project. That way you will have all of your tag working and a cut representation of your speciality equipment.
I personally believe that this is the best way to go. You can push even further this workflow by nesting in the "container" family any other element (ex. plumbing fixtures etc.) composing your speciality equipment. In that maker you can schedule the casework and plumbing separately and still be able to schedule the speciality equipment as a ensemble. In your case you can reuse the existing families with very little extra work.
Regards.

[aghis_no]

I believe that it is rather positive having non curable families. You do not want to have an couch, a chair or even a toilet bowl or an air conditioning unit cut in a section... However it is true that speciality equipment category is too generic and covers alot of different construction elements that some need to be cut and some other do not.

[FormatformE]

This worked best. Thank you for the suggestion.

[bugartechea]

sounds like a sloppy fix

[mikegbabcock]

How have 6 years gone by and these items are still not cut-able? How can Autodesk label cockamamie workarounds as "solved"? Why would I change a mech unit to casework? What if I want to put these on a schedule- I suppose you'll have another "solution" for that too. After 20 years these forums should be empty bc the software should be completely intuitive, no one asks anything very often. 

[fiaccofelicia]

I agree. I need to cut through a shower base to show the base wrapping up the walls, but can't because it's a plumbing fixture so I'm left with a section that looks like a slab of terrazzo instead of a shower base with center drain. Changing the family type is not a feasible option. There should be some type of toggle option to say "I want to cut through this"  or "I don't want to cut through this".

[colincargill]

Please allow us to choose what displays as a section. All the "solutions" listed are workarounds and do not address the fundamental problem. Thank you, Colin Cargill